How Conscious Companies Can Compete with Conventional Big Corporations

What do small, eco-driven, voluntarily responsible businesses need in order to compete with huge conventional companies that capitalize on being able to legally cut corners? What's "Social Intrapreneurship" and how can we use this inspire positive change within from existing companies? In this episode, I chat with Meghan French Dunbar - Co-Founder and CEO of Conscious Company Media.

In addition to publishing Conscious Company Magazine, which shares cutting-edge stories about business as a force for good, the company also hosts educational events and workshops about elevating consciousness in the business world. Meghan is a wealth of wisdom on the intersection of sustainability and business and offers key tips on what you need to elevate your passion project in today's landscape, and how we can potentially get big corporations to alter the fundamental ways they operate for the better. Let's dive in.

Highlights

[02:20] What got Meghan interested in sustainable business

[04:45]Meghan: "Business is the largest aggregator of human potential and effort on the face of the planet. [If] you align the incentives correct, you can get businesses to change the world in a positive way."

[05:15] Kaméa: "Why is it that sometimes the terms business and corporations seemingly have negative connotations?"

[06:50] Meghan: "The hardest part was a belief in myself."

[8:15] Kaméa: "What's been keeping you going through these challenges?"

[10:30] Meghan talks about what a "social intrapreneur" is and how we can inspire change in existing companies from the inside. [13:25] Top 3 challenges Meghan sees conscious business owners face today.

[14:40] Meghan: "To take that huge risk to start a company is crazy enough, but social entrepreneurs often care so much about the mission and purpose about what they're doing that they work even harder than traditional entrepreneurs… they hang on longer because they believe so much in what they're doing."

[15:50] Kaméa: "How can conscious companies compete with [conventional] companies that capitalize on being able to do things cheaply and quickly?"

[17:50] Meghan: "It's not just millennials who are demanding change. It's really pervading all levels of society." [19:40] Kaméa: "How can we elevate these small businesses that are especially driven by a bigger purpose?"

[22:30] Meghan: "B Lab came out with Benefit Corporation, which is a legal structure that requires you to not only take into account your shareholders, but all of your stakeholders - and that can include the environment."

[24:35] Meghan's greatest learning lesson from the past years.

[25:10] Meghan: "...that moment when you're 100% sure you should give up… that's the moment when you should dig in and put your head down..."

[26:10] Meghan: "When I am thriving, I'm the absolute best version of myself and I can see that reflected in everything we do."

[33:55] Meghan: "If this is the next generation coming in, traditional business better watch out."

This is a conversation on Green Dreamer Podcast with Kamea Chayne, a show exploring environmental and intersectional sustainability from ideas to life. Subscribe to Green Dreamer on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app and let’s learn what it takes to thrive in every sense of the word!